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The 9th Age

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Fantasy Battles: The 9th Age is an independent table top miniature wargame set in a fantasy world, in which players take control of armies and set them upon one another in conflicts ranging from minor skirmishes to mighty battles with hundreds of models.

The game and all of its rules are completely free to download and use, and consist of a main rulebook and over fifteen army documents, ranging from stoic men and noble elves to the feral orcs and dread worshipers of the dark gods. You can easily assemble your own army using appropriate 28mm miniatures from any manufacturer.

Fantasy Battles: The 9th Age has been created by a group of experienced wargamers, a large supportive staff and continuous input from the wargaming community. We aim to provide a competitive, balanced and fun game, with updates and new rules to be released regularly.

We’ve created 16 unique armies from the Dread Elves in the west to the Ogre Khans in the east. Each army has different units and playstyles and can be represented by models from any 28mm model company. People said it was impossible, but we have created a game that is both balanced and fun. Don’t believe us? Try it for yourselves.

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So, Social Distancing was a great team event. It doesn’t compare to “real life” events because you lack the rush that comes from winning or losing for the team, as well as the quick succession of events: this was more of a slow burn, with a single round per week and games spread out. However, that had its upsides, too. You can actually see your teammates play the game, which offers an opportunity for improvement as you get critique post game from people who watched the entire battle as opposed to just a recount of events. Knowing the matchups and scenario/map beforehand meant that a decent amount of theorizing went on, which adds to the depth of the game: you cannot rely on surprising your opponent as much, and you expect him to have a coherent battle plan by the time you actually get to play the game.

Curiously enough, the social aspect was present in this event: through interactions via Discord I actually got to discuss more with the other teams than I would have during a 2-day event. Team USA and the TO @Sergrum have achieved something spectacular with this initiative, which is bringing T9A enthusiasts together to talk about the game and get to know each other in these weird times we live in.

So who won? Our team certainly didn’t, we ended up near the bottom (28/34) of the board after suffering yet another loss in the final round. But Belgium did win: the team Beer, Cheese and Surf, comprised of 3 Team Belgium current or former members and an Australian (now honorary Belgian, too!) beat all that stood before them and claimed the first place. Right behind them were the Germans and the Spanish, completing the podium in a multi-national way.

This field was one of the toughest I’ve ever faced, rivaling the ETC. So congrats are in order for all of the top finishers, for they truly showed they are the best in this game we so like to play! While our final placing isn’t what we had expected going in, we got 6 great rounds, meeting people from all over the world in the process. Shout out to my 7 opponents, they were all very fun to play with and very competent generals as well: Paul, Dave, Anton, Pablo, Justin, Mike and Marek, thanks a lot for making this quarantine easier to bear!

Before the list review, I’ll do a team review: we took a gamble going into the tournament, and that was to bring lists that we hadn’t had experience with. What we learned was that

Undying Dynasties cannot pull off the same plays as last year: large units with big footprints get swarmed by superior opposition and crumble away before the -lacking- magic phase can even begin to raise them and boost them. Another approach is needed in list building, and -after watching some UD games- I’d also point out that a book rewrite cannot come fast enough.

Tree spirit lists are good if they match the player’s demeanor. Our SE player has played so many games with the elven part of the army book, he’s gotten used to striking first and charging into combat instead of getting charged. I admit that I’d find playing a Tree Spirit list quite boring, and lacking in flair: not unlike a Dwarven Holds vanguard list, the trees lack the potential for late game counterplay if things do not go their way.

MSU Vampires. They either work beautifully, or they don’t. Having played a game with the list as a stand-in, I felt that one could accomplish the same thing with KoE, only better and without the risk of your army crumbling.

Overall we lacked the go-to armies for a 4-player event. These proved to be Daemonic Legion, Vermin Swarm, Highborn Elves and Warriors of the Dark Gods (the latter tied in 4th position with Vampire Covenant). This doesn’t come as a surprise, as these armies are highly reliable in terms of Leadership (yes, even Vermin!), with a good amount of Fearless troops, good fighting power/magic/speed, and able to play any scenario.

"But what about the Beasts?", I hear you say. If I had to sum it up, I’d say that the list exceeded expectations given the opposition. What I mean by this is that I brought a list based on infantry, vulnerable to psychology (way more than any of my previous lists) and with a good amount of points invested in discipline-based tricks (Aura of Madness, Hereditary, Whispers of the Veil, Terror). The opposition was in the vast majority comprised of armies immune to most of these effects. Where the opponents had good magic, high-performance shooting and overall a skewed/extreme list building approach, the March of the Jabberwocks army brought a minimal-investment magic phase, low-armour (and low-agility) infantry and very few traditional hard hitters.

Some of the entries I tried surprised me in a positive way, while others portrayed the shortcomings of such a take in BH listbuilding. But as a whole, the army always gave me ways to approach the game with the goal of winning. Full-combat beasts are not the army that will play for a draw or a… [Read More]

On this week's show we are joined by the one and only Adam 'Tanka' Jones, of England ETC fame, who chats with us about MSU, list building and why SA should be considered a top tier army. Grab a beer and some paint and join us - WARNING: may contain penis jokes.

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Short answer: Empire has decent representation at recent tournaments.
As for its tier performance in tournaments I would say…

Quote from duxbuse: “
Of course they are not indestructible but they are not far off. In fact probably too close for anyone to have fun playing against them.
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Yeah this is a list I refer to as a hobby killer. Sure at the top level where everyone…

well, then seeing it in hard cover and in stores would surely do miracles, right? ; )
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Quote from Wesser: “Quote from duxbuse: “Of course they are not indestructible but they are not far off. In fact probably too close for anyone to have fun playing against them.
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Quote from RobertR: “I see. The main point of the list gets lost. Well, I'll try a list like this then. I'm playing VS on wednesday, anything in particular I should be wary of? Doomwheels have ap10 of course, but what else?
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So the counter to the…

well, then seeing it in hard cover and in stores would surely do miracles, right? ; )
we've had this discussion several times, and every time we end up agreeing that we need books that can be bought by stores. then a year passes, and the gold full…